
Class JBS.z.2. t^_ 
190 



Book 



CopightN 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Courtship 
o f M iles Stan dish 



-* 




^^TK 



Collection of " Masterpieces. 



HENRY W. LONGFELLOW 

The Courtship 
of Miles Standish 



With numerous original 
illustrations by 

WALTER RUSSELL 




NEW YORK 
Frederick A. Stokes Company 

PUBLISHERS 



1 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copits Received 

OCT. 17 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASS Al'XXc. No. 

/ °[l <\% 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1901, by 
Frederick A . Stokes Company 



Miles Standish, 



The Courtship 

of 

Miles Standish. 



i. 

MILES STANDISH. 

In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land 
of the Pilgrims, 

To and fro in a room of his simple and prim- 
itive dwelling, 

Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordo- 
van leather, 

Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish the 
Puritan Captain. 

Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands 
behind him, and pausing 

Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons 
of warfare, 

Hanging in shining array along the walls of 
the chamber, — 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 



and his trusty 



ts 



Cutlass and corslet of steel, 

sword of Damascus, 
Curved at the point and inscribed with 
mystical Arabic sentence, 

While underneath, in a corner, 
were fowling-pi^ce, musket, 
and matchlock. 
Short of stature he was. but 
strongly built and athletic. 
Broad in the shoulders, deep- 
chested, with muscles and 
sinews of iron ; 
Brown as a nut was his face, but 
his russet beard was already 
\ Flaked with patches of snow, as 
hedges sometimes in Novem- 
ber. 
Near him was seated John Alden, 
his friend, and household 
companion, 
Writing with diligent speed at a 
i table of pine by the win- 

dow ; 
azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon 
complexion, 
Having the dew of his youth, and the beauty 

thereof, as the captives 
Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, 

" Not Angles but Angels." 
Youngest of all was he of the men who came 
in the May Flower. 




Fair-haired, 




^ 



" MILES STANDISH." 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 7 

Suddenly breaking the silence, the diligent 

scribe interrupting, 
Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles Standish 

the Captain of Plymouth. 
11 Look at these arms," he said, "the warlike 

weapons that hang here 
Burnished and bright and clean, as if for pa- 
rade or inspection ! 
This is the sword of Damascus I fought with 

in Flanders ; this breastplate, 
Well I remember the day ! once saved my life 

in a skirmish; 
Here in front you can see the very dint of the 

bullet 
Fired point-blank at my heart by a Spanish 

arcabucero. 
Had it not been of sheer steel, the forgotten 

bones of Miles Standish 
Would at this moment be mould, in their grave 

in the Flemish morasses.'" 
Thereupon answered John Alden, but looked 

not up from his writing: 
" Truly the breath of the Lord hath slackened 

the speed of the bullet ; 
He in his mercy preserved you, to be our shield 

and our weapon ! " 
Still the Captain continued, unheeding the 

words of the stripling : 
" See, how bright they are burnished, as if in 

an arsenal hanging ; 
That is because I have done it myself, and not 

left it to others. 



8 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Serve yourself, would you be well served, is 

an excellent adage; 
So I take care of my arms, as you of your pens 

and your ink-horn. 
Then, too, there are my soldiers, my great, in- 
vincible army, 
Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest 

and his matchlock, 
Eighteen shillings a month, together with diet 

and pillage, 
And, like Caesar, I know the name of each of 

my soldiers ! " 
This he said with a smile, that danced in his 

eyes, as the sunbeams 
Dance on the waves of the sea, and vanish 

again in a moment. 
Alden laughed as he wrote, and still the Cap- 
tain continued : 
" Look ! you can see from this window my 

brazen howitzer planted 
High on the roof of the church, a preacher 

who speaks to the purpose, 
Steady, straight-forward, and strong, with 

irresistible logic, 
Orthodox, flashing conviction right into the 

hearts of the heathen. 
Now we are ready, I think, for any assault of 

the Indians ; 
Let them come, if they like, and the sooner 

they try it the better, — 
Let them come if they like, be it sagamore, 

sachem, or pow-wow, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 9 

Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto or To- 
kamahamon ! " 

Long at the window he stood, and wistfully- 
gazed on the landscape, 
Washed with a cold grey mist, the vapory 
breath of the east-wind. 




'" HOWITZER PLANTED HIGH ON THE ROOF OF 
THE CHURCH." 

Forest and meadow and hill, and the steel-blue 

rim of the ocean, 
Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon shadows 

and sunshine. 



10 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Over his countenance flitted a shadow like 

those on the landscape, 
Gloom intermingled with light ; and his voice 

was subdued with emotion, 
Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a pause he 

proceeded : 

11 Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, lies 

buried Rose Standish; 
Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for me by 

the wayside ! 
She was the first to die of all who came in the 

May Flower ! 
Green above her is growing the field of wheat 

we have sown there, 
Better to hide from the Indian scouts the 

graves of our people, 
Lest they should count them and see how many 

already have perished ! " 
Sadly his face he averted, and strode up and 

down, and was thoughtful. 



Fixed to the opposite wall was a shelf of 
books, and among them 

Prominent three, distinguished alike for bulk 
and for binding ; 

Bariffe's Artillery Guide, and the Commenta- 
ries of Caesar, 

Out of the Latin translated by Arthur Goldinge 
of London, 

And, as if guarded by these, between them 
was standing the Bible. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAND1SH. II 

Musing a moment before them, Miles Standish 

paused, as if doubtful 
Which of the three he should choose for his 

consolation and comfort, 




SHELF OF BOOKS. 



Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the famous 
campaigns of the Romans, 

Or the Artillery practice, designed for belliger- 
ent Christians. 



12 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Finally down from its shelf he dragged the 

ponderous Roman, 
Seated himself at the window, and opened the 

book, and in silence 
Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where 

thumb-marks thick on the margin, 
Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the battle 

was hottest. 
Nothing was heard in the room but the hurry- 
ing pen of the stripling, 
Busily writing epistles important, to go by the 

May Flower, 
Ready to sail on the morrow, or next day at 

latest, God willing ! 
Homeward bound with the tidings of all 

that terrible winter, 
Letters written by Alden, and full of the 

name of Priscilla, 
Full of the name and the fame of the Puritan 

maiden Priscilla ! 



Ii. 

Love and Friendship. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STA.NOISH. 



LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP. 

Nothing was heard in the room but the 

hurrying- pen of the stripling, 
Or an occasional sigh from the labouring heart 

of the Captain, 
Reading the marvellous words and achieve- 
ments of Julius Caesar. 
After a while he exclaimed, as he smote with 

his hand, palm downwards. 
Heavily on the page : "A wonderful man was 

this Caesar ! 
You are a w*riter, and I am a fighter, but here 

is a fellow 
Who could both write and fight, and in both 

was equally skilful ! " 
Straightway answered and spake John Alden, 

the comely, the youthful : 
" Yes, he was equally skilled, as you say, with 

his pen and his weapons. 
Somewhere have I read, but where I forget, 

he could dictate 
Seven letters at once, at the same time writing 

his memoirs. 1 '' 
" Truly," continued the Captain, not heeding 

or hearing the other, 



l6 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

"Truly a wonderful man was Caius Julius 

Caesar ! 
Better be first, he said, in a little Iberian 

village, 
Than be second in Rome, and I think he was 

right when he said it. 
Twice was he married before he was twenty, 

and many times after; 
Battles five hundred he fought, and a thousand 

cities he conquered ; 
He, too, fought in Flanders, as he himself has 

recorded ; 
Finally he was stabbed by his friend, the orator 

Brutus ! 
Now, do you know what he did on a certain 

occasion in Flanders, 
When the rear-guard of his army retreated, 

the front giving way too, 
And the immortal Twelfth Legion was crowded 

so closely together 
There was no room for their swords ? Why, 

he seized a shield from a soldier, 
Put himself straight at the head of his troops 

and commanded the captains, 
Calling on each by his name, to order forward 

the ensigns ; 
Then to widen the ranks, and give more room 

for their weapons ; 
So he won the day, the battle of something- 

or-other. 
That's what I always say ; if you wish a thing 

to be well done, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 17 

You must do it yourself, you must not leave it 
to others ! *' 










THE HURRYING PEN OF THE STRIPLING. 

All was silent again ; the Captain continued 
his reading. 

Nothing was heard in the room but the hurry- 
ing pen of the stripling 

Writing epistles important to go next day by 
the May Flower, 



18 THE COURTSHIP OK MILES STANDISH. 

Filled with the name and the fame of the 

Puritan maiden Priscilla ; 
Every sentence began or closed with the name 

of Priscilla, 
Till the treacherous pen, to which he confided 

the secret, 
Strove to betray it by singing and shouting 

the name of Priscilla ! 
Finally closing his book, with a bang of the 

ponderous cover, 
Sudden and loud as the sound of a soldier 

grounding his musket, 
. Thus to the young man spake Miles Standish 

the Captain of Plymouth : 
"When you have finished your work, I have 

something important to tell you. 
Be not however in haste ; I can wait ; I shall 

not be impatient ! " 
Straightway Alden replied, as he folded the 

last of his letters, 
Pushing his papers aside, and giving respectful 

attention : 
" Speak ; for whenever you speak, I am always 

ready to listen, 
Always ready to hear whatever pertains to 

Miles Standish." 
Thereupon answered the Captain, embarrassed, 

and culling his phrases: 
" 'Tis not good for a man to be alone, say 

the Scriptures. 
This I have said before, and again and again 

I repeat it ; 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAXDISH. 19 

Every hour in the day, I think it, and feel it, 

and say it. 
Since Rose Standish died, my life has been 

weary and dreary ; 
Sick at heart have I been, beyond the healing 

of friendship. 
Oft in my lonely hours have I thought of the 

maiden Priscilla. 
She is alone in the world ; her father and 

mother and brother 
Died in the winter together ; I saw her going 

and coming, 
Now to the grave of the dead, and now to the 

bed of the dying, 
Patient, courageous, and strong, and said to 

myself, that if ever 
There were angels on earth, as there are angels 

in heaven, 
Two have I seen and known ; and the angel 

whose name is Priscilla 
Holds in my desolate life the place which the 

other abandoned. 
Long have I cherished the thought, but never 

have dared to reveal it, 
Being a coward in this, though valiant enough 

in the most part. 
Go to the damsel Priscilla, the loveliest maiden 

of Plymouth, 
Say that a blunt old Captain, a man not of 

words but of actions, 
Offers his- hand and his heart, the hand and 

heart of a soldier. 



20 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Not in these words, you know, but this in 

short is my meaning ; 
I am a maker of war, and not a maker of 

phrases. 
You, who are bred as a scholar, can say it in 

elegant language, 
Such as you read in your books of the pleadings 

and wooings of lovers, 
Such as you think best adapted to win the 

heart of a maiden." 



When he had spoken, John Alden, the 

fair haired, taciturn stripling, 
All aghast at his words, surprised, embarrassed 

bewildered, 
Trying to mask his dismay by treating the 

subject with lightness, 
Trying to smile, and yet feeling his heart 

stand still in his bosom, 
Just as a timepiece stops in a house that is 

stricken by lightning, 
Thus made answer and spake, or rather 

stammered than answered : 
"Such a message as that, I am sure I should 

mangle and mar it : 
If you would have it well done, — I am only 

repeating your maxim, — 
You must do it yourself, you must not leave it 

to others ! " 
But with the air of a man whom nothing can 

turn from his purpose, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 21 

Gravely shaking his head, made answer the 

Captain of Plymouth : 
"Truly the maxim is good, and I do not 

mean to gainsay it ; 
But we must use it discreetly, and not waste 

powder for nothing. 
Now, as I said before, I was never a maker of 

phrases. 
I can march up to a fortress and summon the 

place to surrender, 
But march up to a woman with such a pro- 
posal, I dare not. 
I'm not afraid of bullets, nor shot from the 

mouth of a cannon, 
But of a thundering ' No ! ' point-blank from 

the mouth of a woman, 
That I confess I'm afraid of, nor am I ashamed 

to confess it ! 
So you must grant my request, for you are 

an elegant scholar, 
Having the graces of speech, and skill in the 

turning of phrases." 
Taking the hand of his friend, who still was 

reluctant and doubtful, 
Holding it long in his own, and pressing it 

kindly, he added : 
" Though I have spoken thus lightly, yet deep 

is the feeling that prompts me ; 
Surely you cannot refuse what I ask in the 

name of our friendship ! " 
Then made answer John Alden : " The name of 

friendship is sacred ; 



22 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

What you demand in that name, I have not 

the power to deny you ! " 
So the strong will prevailed, subduing and 

moulding the gentler, 
Friendship prevailed over love, and Alden 

went on his errand. 



III. 

The Lover's Errand. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 



III. 

THE LOVER'S ERRAND. 

So the strong will prevailed, and Alden went 

on his errand, 
Out of the street of the village, and into the 

paths of the forest, 
Into the tranquil woods, where blue-birds and 

robins were building 
Towns in the populous trees, with hanging 

gardens of verdure, 
Peaceful, aerial cities of joy and affection and 

freedom. 
All around him was calm, but within him com- 
motion and conflict, 
Love contending with friendship, and self 

with each generous impulse. 
To and fro in his breast his thoughts were 

heaving and dashing, 
As in a foundering ship, with every roll of the 

vessel, 
Washes the bitter sea, the merciless surge of 

the ocean ! 
" Must I relinquish it all," he cried with a wild 

lamentation, 
" Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the hope, 

the illusion ? 



26 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Was it for this I have loved, and waited, and 
worshipped in silence? 

Was it for this I have followed the flying feet 
and the shadow 

Over the wintry sea, to the desolate shores 
of New England ? 

Truly the heart is deceitful, and out of its 
depths of corruption 

Rise, like an exhalation, the misty phantoms 
of passion ; 

Angels of light they seem, but are only delu- 
sions of Satan. 

All is clear to me now; I feel it, I see it dis- 
tinctly ! 

This is the hand of the Lord ; it is laid upon 
me in anger, 

For I have followed too much the heart's de- 
sires and devices, 

Worshipping Astaroth blindly, and impious 
idols of Baal. 

This is the cross I must bear ; the sin and the 
swift retribution." 



So through the Plymouth woods John Alden 

went on his errand ; 
Crossing the brook at the ford, where it 

brawled over pebble and shadow, 
Gathering still, as he went, the May-flowers 

blooming around him, 
Fragrant, filling the air with a strange and 

wonderful sweetness 



■...■■,■:■ 




IHN ALDtX WENi ON HIS ERRAND. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 29 

Children lost in the woods, and covered with 

leaves in their slumber. 
"Puritan flowers," he said, "and the type of 

Puritan maidens, 
Modest and simple and sweet, the very type 

of Priscilla ! 
So I will take them to her ; to Priscilla the 

May-flower of Plymouth, 
Modest and simple and sweet, as a parting- 
gift will I take them ; 
Breathing their silent farewells, as they fade 

and wither and perish, 
Soon to be thrown away as is the heart of the 

giver." 
So through the Plymouth woods John Alden 

went on his errand ; 
Came to an open space, and saw the disk of 

the ocean, 
Sail-less, sombre, and cold with the comfort- 
less breath of the east-wind ; 
Saw the new-built house, and people at work 

in a meadow ; 
Heard, as he drew near the door, the musical 

voice of Priscilla 
Singing the hundredth Psalm, the grand old 

Puritan anthem, 
Music that Luther sang to the sacred words of 

the Psalmist, 
Full of the breath of the Lord, consoling and 

comforting many. 
Then, as he opened the door, he beheld the 

form of the maiden 



3<3 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Seated beside her wheel, and the carded wool 

like a snow-drift 
Piled at her knee, her white hands feeding the 

ravenous spindle, 
While with her foot on the treadle she guided 

the wheel in its motion. 
Open wide on her lap lay the well-worn psalm 

book of Ainsworth, 
Printed in Amsterdam, the words and the 

music together, 
Rough-hewn, angular notes, like stones in the 

wall of a churchyard, 
Darkened and overhung by the running vine 

of the verses. 
Such was the book from whose pages she sang 

the old Puritan anthem, 
She, the Puritan girl, in the solitude of the 

forest, 
Making the humble house and the modest ap- 
parel of homespun 
Beautiful with her beauty, and rich with the 

wealth of her being 1 
Over him rushed, like a wind that is keen and 

cold and relentless, 
Thoughts of what might have been, and the 

weight and woe of his errand ; 
All the dreams that had faded, and all the 

hopes that had vanished, 
All his life henceforth a dreary and tenantless 

mansion, 
Haunted by vain regrets, and pallid, sorrow- 
ful faces. 








ON HER LAI' LAY THE WELL-WORN PSALM BOOK. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 33 

Still he said to himself, and almost fiercely he 

said it, 
"Let not him that putteth his hand to the 

plough look backwards ; 
Though the ploughshare cut through the 

flowers of life to its fountains, 
Though it pass o'er the graves of the dead and 

the hearths of the living. 
It is the will of the Lord ; and his mercy en- 

dureth for ever ! " 



So he entered the house : and the hum of 
the wheel and the singing 

Suddenly ceased ; for Priscilla, aroused by his 
step on the threshold, 

Rose as he entered, and gave him her hand, in 
signal of w-elcome, 

Saying, ' k I knew it was you, when I heard 
your step in the passage; 

For I was thinking of you, as I sat there sing- 
ing and spinning. 1 " 

Awkward and dumb with delight, that a 
thought of him had been mingled 

Thus in the sac-red psalm, that came from the 
heart of the maiden, 

Silent before her he stood, and gave her the 
flowers for an answer, 

Finding no words for his thought. He remem- 
bered that day in the winter, 

After the first great snow, when he broke a 
path from the village, 



34 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Reeling and plunging along through the drifts 

that encumbered the doorway, 
Stamping the snow from his feet as he entered 

the house, and Priscilla 
Laughed at his snowy locks, and gave him a 

seat by the fire-side, 
Grateful and pleased to know he had thought 

of her in the snow-storm. 
Had he but spoken then ! perhaps not in vain 

had he spoken ; 
Now it was all too late ; the golden moment 

had vanished ! 
So he stood there abashed, and gave her the 

flowers for an answer. 



Then they sat down and talked of the birds 

and the beautiful Spring-time, 
Talked of their friends at home, and the May 

Flower that sailed on the morrow. 
" I have been thinking all day," said gently 

the Puritan maiden, 
" Dreaming all night, and thinking all day, of 

the hedge-rows of England,— 
They are in blossom now, and the country is 

all like a garden ; 
Thinking of lanes and fields, and the song of 

the lark and the linnet, 
Seeing the village street, and familiar faces of 

neighbours 
Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip 

together, 




- / r 



/ 



BY THE FIRESIDE. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. ^,J 

And, at the end of the street, the village church, 

with the ivy 
Climbing- the old grey tower, and the quiet 

graves in the churchyard. 
Kind are the people I live with, and dear to 

me, my religion ; 
Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself 

back in Old England. 
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it ! 

I almost 
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so 

lonely and wretched." 

Thereupon answered the youth :—" Indeed 

I do not condemn you , 
Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in 

this terrible winter. 
Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a 

stronger to lean on ; 
So I have come to you now, with an offer and 

proffer of marriage 
Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish 

the Captain of Plymouth ! " 

Thus he delivered his message, the dextrous 

writer of letters, — 
Did not embellish the theme, nor array it in 

beautiful phrases, 
But came straight to the point, and blurted it 

out like a school-boy; 
Even the Captain himself could hardly have 

said it more bluntly. 



38 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla 

the Puritan maiden 
Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated 

with wonder, 
Feeling his words like a blow, that stunned 

her and rendered her speechless ; 
Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the 

ominous silence : 
" If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very 

eager to wed me, 
Why does he not come himself, and take the 

trouble to woo me ? 
If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not 

worth the winning ! " 
Then John Alden began explainingand smooth- 
ing the matter, 
Making it worse as he went, by saying the 

Captain was busy, — 
Had no time for such things ; — such things ! 

the words grating harshly 
Fell on the ear of Priscilla; and swift as a 

flash she made answer : 
" Has he no time for such things, as you call it, 

before he is married, 
Would he be likely to find it, or make it, after 

the wedding ? 
That is the way with you men ; you don't 

understand us, you cannot. 
When you have made up your minds, after 

thinking of this one and that one, 
Choosing, selecting, rejecting, comparing one 

with another, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 39 

Then you make known your desire, with 

abrupt and sudden avowal, 
And are offended and hurt, and indignant per- 
haps, that a woman 
Does not respond at once to a love that she 

never suspected, 
Does not attain at a bound the height to which 

you have been climbing. 
This is not right nor just : for surely a woman's 

affection 
Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only 

the asking. 
When one is truly in love, one not only says it, 

but shows it. 
Had he but waited awhile, had he only showed 

that he loved me, 
Even this Captain of yours— who knows?— 

at last might have won me, 
Old and rough as he is ; but now it never can 

happen." 



Still John Alden went on, unheeding the 
words of Priscilla, 

Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, per- 
suading, expanding ; 

Spoke of his courage and skill, and of all his 
battles in Flanders, 

How with the people of God he had chosen to 
suffer affliction, 

How, in return for his zeal, they had made him 
Captain of Plymouth; 



4<3 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

He was a gentleman born, could trace his ped- 
igree plainly 
Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury Hall, in 

Lancashire, England, 
Who was the son of Ralph, and the grandson 

of Thurston de Standish ; 
Heir unto vast estates, of which he was basely 

defrauded, 
Still bore the family arms, and had for his cre^ 

a cock argent 
Combed and wattled gules, and all the rest of 

the blazon. 
He was a man of honour, of noble and generous 

nature ; 
Though he was rough, he was kindly ; she 

knew how during the winter 
He had attended the sick, with a hand as gen- 
tle as woman's ; 
Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not deny it, 

and headstrong, 
Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and 

placable always, 
Not to be laughed at and scorned, because he 

was little of stature ; 
For he was great of heart, magnanimous, 

courtly, courageous ; 
Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman in 

England, 
Might be happy and proud to be called the 

wife of Miles Standish ! 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 41 

But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple 
and eloquent language. 

Quite forgetful of self, and full of the praise of 
his rival, 

Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes over- 
running with laughter, 

Said, in a tremulous voice, "Why don't you 
speak for yourself, John ? " 



IV. 
John Alden. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 



IV. 

JOHN ALDEN. 

Into the open air John Alden, perplexed and 

bewildered, 
Rushed like a man insane, and wandered alone 

by the seaside; 
Paced up and down the sands, and bared his 

head to the east-wind, 
Cooling his heated brow, and the fire and fever 

within him. 
Slowly as out of the heavens, with apocalypti- 
cal splendours, 
Sank the City of God, in the vision of John 

the Apostle, 
So, with its cloudy walls of chrysolite, jasper, 

and sapphire, 
Sank the broad red sun, and over its turrets 

uplifted 
Glimmered the golden reed of the angel who 

measured the city. 

"Welcome, O wind of the East!" he ex- 
claimed in his wild exultation, 

" Welcome, O wind of the East, from the caves 
of the misty Atlantic ! 

Blowing o'er fields of dulse, and measureless 
meadows of sea-^rass. 



40 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Blowing o'er rocky wastes, and the grottoes 
and gardens of ocean ! 

Lay thy cold, moist hand on my burning fore- 
head, and wrap me 

Close in thy garments of mist, to allay the 
fever within me! " 

Like an awakened conscience, the sea was 

moaning and tossing 
Beating remorseful and loud the mutable sands 

of the seashore. 
Fierce in his soul was the struggle and tumult 

of passions contending ; 
Love triumphant and crowned, and friendship 

wounded and bleeding, 
Passionate cries of desire, and importunate 

pleadings of duty ! 
"Is it my fault," he said, "that the maiden 

has chosen between us ? 
Is it my fault that he failed, — my fault that I 

am the victor ? " 
Then within him there thundered a voice, like 

the voice of the Prophet: 
"It hath displeased the Lord ! "—and he 

thought of David's transgression, 
Bathsheba's beautiful face, and his friend in 

the front of the battle ! 
Shame and confusion of guilt, and abasement 

and self-condemnation, 
Overwhelmed him at once ; and he cried in the 

deepest contrition : 
" It hath displeased the Lord ! It is the temp- 
tation of Satan ! " 




JOHN ALDEN WANDERED ALONE BY THE SEASIDE. 



THE COURTSHIP OK MILES STANDISH. 49 

Then, uplifting his head, he looked at the 

sea, and beheld there 
Dimly the shadowy form of the May Flower 

riding at anchor, 
Rocked on the rising tide, and ready to sail on 

the morrow ; 
Heard the voices of men through the mist, the 

rattle of cordage 
Thrown on the deck, the shouts of the mate, 

and the sailors' " Ay, ay. Sir ! " 
Clear and distinct, but not loud, in the drip- 
ping air of the twilight. 
Still for a moment he stood, and listened, and 

stared at the vessel, 
Then went hurriedly on, as one who, seeing a 

phantom, 
Stops, then quickens his pace, and follows the 

beckoning shadow. 
"Yes, it is plain to me now," he murmured ; 

" the hand of the Lord is 
Leading me out of the land of darkness, the 

bondage of error, 
Through the sea, that shall lift the walls of its 

waters around me, 
Hiding me, cutting me off, from the cruel 

thoughts that pursue me. 
Back will I go o'er the ocean, this dreary land 

will abandon, 
Her whom I may not love, and him whom my 

heart has offended. 
Better to be in my grave in the green old 

churchyard in England, 



50 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Close by my mother's side, and among the dust 
of my kindred ; 

Better be dead and forgotten, than living in 
shame and dishonour ! 

Sacred and safe and unseen, in the dark of the 
narrow chamber 

With me my secret shall lie, like a buried jewel 
that glimmers 

Bright on the hand that is dust, in the cham- 
bers of silence and darkness, — 

Yes, as the marriage ring of the great espousal 
hereafter ! " 



Thus as he spake, he turned, in the strength 

of his strong resolution, 
Leaving behind him the shore, and hurried 

along in the twilight, 
Through the congenial gloom of the forest 

silent and sombre, 
Till he beheld the lights in the seven houses of 

Plymouth, 
Shining like seven stars in the dusk and mist 

of the evening. 
Soon he entered his door, and found the re- 
doubtable Captain 
Sitting alone, and absorbed in the martial 

pages of Caesar, 
Fighting some great campaign in Hainault or 

Brabant or Flanders. 
" Long have you been on your errand," he 

said with a cheery demeanour, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 51 

Even as one who is waiting an answer, and 
fears not the issue. 

" Not far off is the house, although the wood' 
are between us ; 

But you have lingered so long, that while you 
were going and coming 

I have fought ten battles and sacked and de- 
molished a city. 

Come, sit down, and in order relate to me all 
that has happened." 



Then John Alden spake, and related the 

wondrous adventure, 
From beginning to end, minutely, just as it 

happened ; 
How he had seen Priscilla, and how he had 

sped in his courtship, 
Only smoothing a little, and softening down 

her refusal. 
But when he came at length to the words 

Priscilla had spoken, 
Words so tender and cruel : " Why don't you 

speak for yourself, John ? " 
Up leaped the Captain of Plymouth, and 

stamped on the floor, till his armour 
Clanged on the wall, where it hung, with a 

sound of sinister omen. 
All his pent-up wrath burst forth in a sudden 

explosion, 
Even as a hand-grenade, that scatters destruc- 
tion around it. 



52 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Wildly he shouted, and loud: "John Alden } . 
you have betrayed me ! 

Me, Miles Standish, your friend! have sup- 
planted, defrauded, betrayed me! 

One of my ancestors ran his sword through 
the heart of Wat Tyler ; 

Who shall prevent me from running- my own 
through the heart of a traitor ? 

Yours is the greater treason, for yours is a 
treason to friendship ! 

You, who lived under my roof, whom I cher- 
ished and loved as a brother ; 

You, who have fed at my board, and drunk at 
my cup, to whose keeping 

I have intrusted my honour, my thoughts the 
most sacred and secret, — 

You too, Brutus! ah woe to the name of 
friendship hereafter! 

Brutus was Caesar's friend, and you were mine, 
but henceforward 

Let there be nothing between us save war. and 
implacable hatred ! " 



So spake the Captain of Plymouth, and 

strode about in the chamber, 
Chafing and choking with rage ; like cords 

were the veins on his temples. 
But in the midst of his anger a man appeared 

at the doorway, 
Bringing in uttermost haste a message of 

urgent importance, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 53 

Rumours of danger and war and hostile incur- 
sions of Indians ! 

Straightway the Captain paused, and, without 
further question or parley, 

Took from the nail on the wall his sword, with 
its scabbard of iron, 

Buckled the belt round his waist, and, frown- 
ing fiercely, departed. 

Alden was left alone. He heard the clank of 
the scabbard 

Growing fainter and fainter, and dying away 
in the distance. 

Then he arose from his seat, and looked forth 
into the darkness, 

Felt the cool air blow on his cheek, that was 
hot with the insult, 

Lifted his eyes to the heavens, and, folding 
his hands as in childhood. 

Prayed in the silence of night to the Father 
who seeth in secret. 



Meanwhile the choleric Captain strode 
wrathful away to the council, 

Found it already assembled, impatiently wait- 
ing his coming ; 

Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in 
deportment, 

Only one of them old, the hill that was nearest 
to heaven, 

Covered with snow, but erect, the excellent 
Elder of Plymouth. 



54 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

God had sifted three kingdoms to find the 
wheat for this planting, 

Then had sifted the wheat, as the living seed 
of a nation ; 

So say the chronicles old, and such is the faith 
of the people ! 

Near them was standing an Indian, in attitude 
stern and defiant, 

Naked down to the waist, and grim and fero- 
cious in aspect ; 

While on the table before them was lying un- 
opened a Bible, 

Ponderous, bound in leather, brass-studded, 
printed in Holland, 

And beside it outstretched the skin of a rattle- 
snake glittered, 

Filled, like a quiver, with arrows ; a signal and 
challenge of warfare, 

Brought by the Indian, and speaking with 
arrowy tongues of defiance. 

This Miles Standish beheld, as he entered, and 
heard them debating 

What were an answer befitting the hostile 
message and menace, 

Talking of this and of that, contriving, sug- 
gesting, objecting; 

One voice only for peace, and that the voice 
of the Elder, 

Judging it wise and well that some at least 
were converted, 

Rather than any were slain, for this was but 
Christian behavior ! 









EAR THEM WAS STANDING AN INDIAN. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAND1SH. 57 

Then outspake Miles Standish, the stalwart 
Captain of Plymouth, 

Muttering deep in his throat, for his voice was 
husky with anger, 

"What ! do you mean to make war with milk 
and the water of roses ? 

Is it to shoot red squirrels you have your how- 
itzer planted 

There on the roof of the church, or is it to 
shoot red devils ? 

Truly the only tongue that is understood by a 
savage 

Must be the tongue of fire that speaks from 
the mouth of the cannon ! " 

Thereupon answered and said the excellent 
Elder of Plymouth, 

Somewhat amazed and alarmed at this irreve- 
rent language : 

M Not so thought Saint Paul, nor yet the other 
Apostles .; 

Not from the cannon's mouth were the tongues 
of fire they spake with ! " 

But unheeded fell this mild rebuke on the 
Captain, 

Who had advanced to the table, and thus con- 
tinued discoursing : 

" Leave this matter to me, for to me by right 
it pertaineth. 

War is a terrible trade; but in the cause that is 
righteous, 

Sweet is the smell of powder ; and thus I 
answer the challenge ! " 



58 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Then from the rattlesnake's skin, with a sud- 
den, contemptuous gesture, 

Jerking the Indian arrows, he filled it with 
powder and bullets 

Full to the very jaws, and handed it back to 
the savage, 

Saying, in thundering tones : " Here, take it ! 
this is your answer ! " 

Silently out of the room then glided the 
glistening savage, 

Bearing the serpent's skin, and seeming him- 
self like a serpent, 

Winding his sinuous way in the dark to the 
depths of the forest. 



V. 



The Sailing of the May- 
Flower. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 



V. 
THE SAILING OF THE MAY FLOWER. 

Just in the grey of the dawn, as the mists up- 
rose from the meadows, 

There was a stir and a sound in the slumbering 
village of Plymouth ; 

Clanging and clicking of arms, and the order 
imperative, " Forward ! " 

Given in tone suppressed, a tramp of feet, and 
then silence. 

Figures ten, in the mist, marched slowly out of 
the village. 

Standish the stalwart it was, with eight of his 
valorous army, 

Led by their Indian guide, by Hobomok, friend 
of the white men, 

Northward marching to quell the sudden re- 
volt of the savage. 

Giants they seemed in the mist, or the mighty 
men of King David 

Giants in heart they were, who believed in 
God and the Bible, — 

Ay, who believed in the smiting of Midianites 
and Philistines. 

Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners 
of morning ; 



62 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Under them loud on the sands, the serried bil- 
lows, advancing, 

Fired along the line, and in regular order 
retreated. 



Many a mile had they marched, when at 

length the village of Plymouth 
Woke from its sleep, and arose, intent on its 

manifold labours. 
Sweet was the air and soft ; and slowly the 

smoke from the chimneys 
Rose over roofs of thatch, and pointed steadily 

eastward ; 
Men came forth from the doors, and paused 

and talked of the weather, 
Said that the wind had changed, and was blow- 
ing fair for the May Flower: 
Talked of their Captain's departure, and all 

the dangers that menaced, 
He being gone, the town, and what should be 

done in his absence. 
Merrily sang the birds, and the tender voices 

of women 
Consecrated with hymns the common cares of 

the household. 
Out of the sea rose the sun, and the billows 

rejoiced at his coming ; 
Beautiful were his feet on the purple tops of 

the mountains ; 
Beautiful on the sails of the May Flower rid- 
ing at anchor, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 63 

Battered and blackened and worn by all the 

storms of the winter. 
Loosely against her masts was hanging and 

napping her canvas, 
Rent by so many gales, and patched by the 

hands of the sailors. 
Suddenly from her side, as the sun rose over 

the ocean, 
Darted a puff of smoke, and floated seaward ; 

anon rang 
Loud over field and forest the cannon's roar, 

and the echoes 
Heard and repeated the sound, the signal-gun 

of departure ! 
Ah ! but with louder echoes replied the hearts 

of the people ! 
Meekly, in voices subdued, the chapter was 

read from the Bible, 
Meekly the prayer was begun, but ended in 

fervent entreaty ! 
Then from their houses in haste came forth 

the Pilgrims of Plymouth, 
Men and women and children, all hurrying 

down to the seashore, 
Eager, with tearful eyes, to say farewell to 

the May Flower, 
Homeward bound o'er the sea, and leaving 

them here in the desert. 



Foremost among them was Alden. All night 
he had lain without slumber, 



04 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Turning and tossing about in the heat and 

unrest of his fever, 
lie had beheld Miles Standish, who came back 

late from the council, 
Stalking- into the room, and heard him mutter 

and murmur, 
Sometimes it seemed a prayer, and sometimes 

it sounded like swearing. 
Once he had come to the bed, and stood there 

a moment in silence ; 
Then he had turned away, and said : " I will 

not awake him ; 
Let him sleep on, it is best ; for what is the use 

of more talking ! " 
Then he extinguished the light, and threw 

himself down on his pallet, 
Dressed as he was, and ready to start at the 

break of the morning, — 
Covered himself with the cloak he had worn 

in his campaigns in Flanders, — 
Slept as a soldier sleeps in his bivouac, ready 

for action. 
But with the dawn he arose ; in the twilight 

Alden beheld him 
Put on his corslet of steel, and all the rest of 

his armour, 
Buckle about his waist his trusty blade of 

Damascus, 
Take from the corner his musket, and so stride 

out of the chamber. 
Often the heart of the youth had burned and 

yearned to embrace him, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 65 

Often his lips had essayed to speak, imploring 

for pardon ; 
All the old friendship came back, with its 

tender and grateful emotions ; 
But his pride overmastered the nobler nature 

within him, — 
Pride, and the sense of his wrong, and the 

burning fire of the insult. 
So he beheld his friend departing in anger, 

but spake not, 
Saw him go forth to danger, perhaps to 

death, and he spake not ! 
Then he arose from his bed, and heard what 

the people were saying, 
Joined in the talk at the door, with Stephen 

and Richard and Gilbert, 
Joined in the morning prayer, and in the 

reading of Scripture, 
And, with the others, in haste went hurrying 

down to the sea-shore, 
Down to the Plymouth Rock, that had been to 

their feet as a door-step 
Into a world unknown, — the corner-stone of a 

nation ! 



There with his boat was the Master, already 

a little impatient 
Lest he should lose the tide, or the wind might 

shift to the eastward, 
Square-built, hearty, and strong, with an odour 

of ocean about him. 



66 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Speaking- with this one and that, and cram- 
ming letters and parcels 

Into his pockets capacious, and messages 
mingled together 

Into his narrow brain, till at last he was wholly- 
bewildered. 

Nearer the boat stood Alden, with one foot 
placed on the gun-wale, 

One still firm on the rock, and talking at times 
with the sailors, 

Seated erect on the thwarts, all ready and 
eager for starting. 

He too was eager to go, and thus put an end to 
his anguish, 

Thinking to fly from despair, that swifter than 
keel is or canvas, 

Thinking to drown in the sea the ghost that 
would rise and pursue him. 

But as he gazed on the crowd, he beheld the 
form of Priscilla 

Standing dejected among them, unconscious 
of all that was passing. 

Fixed were her eyes upon his, as if she divined 
his intention, 

Fixed with a look so sad, so reproachful, im- 
ploring, and patient, 

That with a sudden revulsion his heart recoiled 
from its purpose, 

As from the verge of a crag, where one step 
more is destruction. 

Strange is the heart of man, with its quick, 
mysterious instincts ! 









ARE YOU SO MUCH OFFENDED, YOU WILL NOT 
SPEAK TO ME ? " 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 69 

Strange is the life of man, and fatal or fated 
are moments, 

Whereupon turn, as on hinges, the gates of the 
wall adamantine ! 

" Here I remain ! " he exclaimed, as he looked 
at the heavens above him, 

Thanking the Lord whose breath had scat- 
tered the mist and the madness, 

Wherein, blind and lost, to death he was 
staggering headlong. 

" Yonder snow-white cloud, that floats in the 
ether above me, 

Seems like a hand that is pointing and beckon- 
ing over the ocean. 

There is another hand, that is not so spectral 
and ghost-like, 

Holding me, drawing me back, and clasping 
mine for protection. 

Float, O hand of cloud, and vanish away in 
the ether ! 

Roll thyself up like a fist, to threaten and 
daunt me ; I heed not 

Either your warning or menace, or any omen 
of evil ! 

There is no land so sacred, no air so pure and 
so wholesome, 

As is the air she breathes, and the soil that is 
pressed by her footsteps. 

Here for her sake will I stay, and like an in- 
visible presence 

Hover around her for ever, protecting, 
supporting her weakness ; 



70 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Yes ! as my foot was the first that stepped on 

this rock at the landing, 
So, with the blessing of God, shall it be the 

last at the leaving !" 



Meanwhile the Master alert, but with digni- 
fied air and important, 

Scanning with watchful eye the tide and the 
wind and the weather, 

Walked about on the sands ; and the people 
crowded around him 

Saying a few last words, and enforcing his 
careful remembrance. 

Then, taking each by the hand, as if he were 
grasping a tiller, 

Into the boat he sprang, and in haste shoved 
off to his vessel, 

Glad in his heart to *>et rid of all this worry 
and flurry, 

Glad to be gone from a land of sand and 
sickness and sorrow, 

Short allowance of victual, and plenty of 
nothing but Gospel ! 

Lost in the sound of the oars was the last fare- 
well of the Pilgrims. 

•O strong hearts and true ! not one went back in 
the May Flower ! 

No, not one looked back, who had set his 
hand to this ploughing ! 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAND1SH. 71 

Soon were heard on board the shouts and 

songs of the sailors 
Heaving the windlass round, and hoisting the 

ponderous anchor. 
Then the yards were braced, and all sails set 

to the west-wind, 
Blowing steady and strong ; and the May 

Flower sailed from the harbour, 
Rounded the point of the Gurnet, and leaving 

far to the southward 
Island and cape of sand, and the Field of the 

First Encounter, 
Took the wind on her quarter, and stood for 

the open Atlantic, 
Borne on the send of the sea, and the swelling 

hearts of the Pilgrims. 



Long in silence they watched the receding 

sail of the vessel, 
Much endeared to them all, as something liv- 
ing and human ; 
Then, as if filled with the spirit, and wrapt in a 

vision prophetic, 
Baring his hoary head, the excellent Elder of 

Plymouth 
Said, " Let us pray ! " and they prayed, and 

thanked the Lord and took courage. 
Mournfully sobbed the waves at the base of 

the rock, and above them 
Bowed and whispered the wheat on the hill of 

death, and their kindred 



72 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Seemed to awake in their graves, and to join 

in the prayer that they uttered. 
Sun-illumined and white, on the eastern verge 

of the ocean 
Gleamed the departing sail, like a marble slab 

in a graveyard ; 
Buried beneath it lay for ever ail hope of 

escaping. 
Lo ! as they turned to depart, they saw the 

form of an Indian, 
Watching them from the hill ; but while they 

spake with each other, 
Pointing with outstretched hands, and saying, 

" Look ! " he had vanished. 
So they returned to their homes ; but Alden 

lingered a little, 
Musing alone on the shore, and watching the 

wash of the billows 
Round the base of the rock, and the sparkle 

and flash of the sunshine, 
Like the spirit of God, moving visibly ovei 

the waters. 



VI. 

Priscilla, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 75 



VI. 

PRISCILLA. 

Thus for a while he stood, and mused by the- 

shore of the ocean, 
Thinking- of many things, and most of all of 

Priscilla ; 
And as if thought had the power to draw to 

itself, like the loadstone, 
Whatsoever it touches, by subtle laws of its 

nature, 
Lo ! as he turned to depart, Priscilla was 

standing beside him. 

" Are you so much offended, you will not 

speak to me ? " said she. 
" Am I so much to blame, that yesterday when 

you were pleading 
Warmly the cause of another, my heart, impul- 
sive and wayward, 
Pleaded your own, and spake out, forgetful 

perhaps of decorum ? 
Certainly you can forgive me for speaking so 

frankly, for saying 
What I ought not to have said, yet now I can 

never unsay it ; 
For there are moments in life, when the heart 

is so full of emotion, 



76 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANOISH. 

That if by chance it be shaken, or into its 

depths like a pebble 
Drops some careless word, it overflows, and 

its secret, 
Spilt on the ground like water, can never be 

gathered together. 
Yesterday I was shocked, when I heard you 

speak of Miles Standish, 
Praising his virtues, transforming his very de- 
fects into virtues, 
Praising his courage and strength, and even 

his fighting in Flanders, 
As if by fighting alone you could win the 

heart of a woman, 
Quite overlooking yourself and the rest, in 

exalting your hero. 
Therefore I spake as I did, by an irresistible 

impulse. 
You will forgive me, I hope, for the sake of 

the friendship between us, 
Which is too true and too sacred to be so easily 

broken ! " 
Thereupon answered John Alden, the scholar, 

the friend of Miles Standish : 
41 1 was not angry with you, with myself alone 

I was angry. 
Seeing how badly I managed the matter I had 

in my keeping." 
"No ;" interrupted the maiden, with answer 

prompt and decisive ; 
" No ; you were angry with me, for speaking 

so frankly and freely. 




FIXED WERE HER EVES UPON HIS. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 79 

It was wrong, I acknowledge ; for it is the fate 

of a woman 
Long to be patient and silent, to wait like a 

ghost that is speechless, 
Till some questioning voice dissolves the spell 

of its silence. 
Hence is the inner life of so many suffering 

women 
Sunless and silent and deep, like subterranean 

rivers 
Running through caverns of darkness, un- 
heard, unseen, and unfruitful, 
Chafing their channels of stone, with endless 

and profitless murmurs." 
Thereupon answered John Alden, the young 

man, the lover of women : 
"Heaven forbid it, Priscilla; and truly they 

seem to me always 
More like the beautiful rivers that watered the 

garden of Eden, 
More like the river Euphrates, through deserts 

of Havilah flowing, 
Filling the land with delight, and memories 

sweet of the garden ! " 
" Ah, by these words, I can see,' 1 again inter- 
rupted the maiden. 
" How very little you prize me, or care for 

what I am saying. 
When from the depths of my heart, in pain and 

with secret misgiving, 
Frankly I speak to you, asking for sympathy 

only and kindness. 



bo THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Straightway you take up my words, that are 
plain and direct and in earnest, 

Turn them away from their meaning, and an- 
swer with nattering phrases. 

This is not right, is not just, is not true to the 
best that is in you ; 

For I know and esteem you, and feel that your 
nature is noble, 

Lifting mine up to a higher, a more ethereal 
level. 

Therefore I value your friendship, and feel it 
perhaps the more keenly 

If you say aught that implies I am only as one 
among many, 

If you make use of those common and compli- 
mentary phrases 

Most men think so fine, in dealing and speak- 
ing with women. 

But which women reject as insipid, if not as 
insulting." 

Mute and amazed was Alden ; and listened 
and looked at Priscilla, 

Thinking he never had seen her more fair, 
more divine in her beauty, 

He who but yesterday pleaded so glibly the 
cause of another, 

Stood there embarrassed and silent, and seek- 
ing in vain for an answer. 

So the maiden went on, and little divined or 
imagined 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 8l 

What was at work in his heart, that made him 

so awkward and speechless. 
11 Let us, then, be what we are, and speak 

what we think, and in all things 
Keep ourselves loyal to truth, and the sacred 

professions of friendship. 
It is no secret I tell you, nor am I ashamed to 

declare it: 
I have liked to be with you, to see you, to 

speak with you always. 
So I was hurt at your words, and a little 

affronted to hear you 
Urge me to marry your friend, though he were 

the Captain Miles Standish. 
For I must tell you the truth : much more to 

me is your friendship 
Than all the love he could give, were he twice 

the hero you think him. 1 ' 
Then she extended her hand, and Alden, who 

eagerly grasped it, 
Felt all the wounds in his heart, that were 

aching and bleeding so sorely, 
Healed by the touch of that hand, and he said 

with a voice full of feeling : 
i l Yes, we must ever be friends; and of all who 

offer you friendship 
Let me be ever the first, the truest, the near- 
est and dearest ! " 



Casting a farewell look at the glimmering 
sail of the May Flower, 



82 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAND1SH. 

Distant, but still in sight, and sinking below 

the horizon, 
Homeward together they walked, with a 

strange, indefinite feeling, 
That all the rest had departed and left them 

alone in the desert. 
But, as they went through the fields in the 

blessing and smile of the sunshine. 
Lighter grew their hearts, and Priscilla said 

very archly : 
" Now that our terrible Captain has gone in 

pursuit of the Indians, 
Where he is happier far than he would be com- 
manding a household, 
You may speak boldly, and tell me of all that 

happened between you, 
When you returned last night, and said how 

ungrateful you found me." 
Thereupon answered John Alden, and told her 

the whole of the story, — 
Told her his own despair, and the direful 

wrath of Miles Standi^h. 
Whereat the maiden smiled, and said between 

laughing and earnest, 
" He is a little chimney, and heated hot in a 

moment ! " 
But as he gently rebuked her, and told her how 

much he had suffered,— 
How he had even determined to sail that day 

in the May Flower, 
And had remained for her sake, on hearing the 

dangers that threatened,— 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 83 

All her manner was changed, and she said 

with a faltering accent, 
" Truly I thank you for this : how good you 

have been to me always ! " 

Thus as a pilgrim devout, who toward 
Jerusalem journeys, 

Taking three steps in advance, and one reluc- 
tantly backward, 

Urged by importunate zeal, and withheld by 
pangs of contrition ; 

Slowly but steadily onward, receding yet ever 
advancing, 

Journeyed this Puritan youth to the holy land 
of his longings. 

Urged by the fervour of love, and withheld by 
remorseful misgivings. 



VII. 



The March of Miles 
Standish. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 87 



VII. 

THE MARCH OF MILES STANDISH. 

Meanwhile the stalwart Miles Standish 
was marching steadily northward, 

Winding through forest and swamp, and along 
the trend of the seashore, 

All day long, with hardly a halt, the fire of his 
anger 

Burning and crackling within, and the sulphur- 
ous odour of powder 

Seeming more sweet to his nostrils than all 
the scents of the forest. 

Silent and moody he went, and much he re- 
volved his discomfort ; 

He who was used to success, and to easy 
victories always, 

Thus to be flouted, rejected, and laughed to 
scorn by a maiden, 

Thus to be mocked and betrayed by the friend 
whom most he had trusted ! 

Ah ! 'twas too much to be borne, and he 
fretted and chafed in his armour ! 

" I alone am to blame," he muttered, " for 
mine was the folly. 
What has a rough old soldier, grown grim and 
grey in the harness, 



88 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Used to the camp and its ways, to do with the 

wooing of maidens ? 
'Twas but a dream, — let it pass, — let it vanish 

like so many others ! 
What I thought was a flower, is only a weed, 

and is worthless ; 
Out of my heart will I pluck it, and throw i l 

away, and henceforward 
Be but a fighter of battles, a lover and wooer 

of dangers ! " 
Thus he revolved in his mind his sorry defeat 

and discomfort, 
While he was marching by day or lying at 

night in the forest, 
Looking up at the trees, and the constellations 

beyond them. 



After a three days' march he came to an 

Indian encampment 
Pitched on the edge of a meadow, between the 

sea and the forest ; 
Women at work by the tents, and the warriors, 

horrid with war-paint, 
Seated about a fire, and smoking and talking 

together ; 
Who, when they saw from afar the sudden 

approach of the white men, 
Saw the flash of the sun on breastplate and 

sabre and musket, 
Straightway leaped to their feet, and two, from 

among them advancing, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 89 

Came to parley with Standish, and offer him 

furs as a present ; 
Friendship was in their looks, but in their 

hearts there was hatred. 
Braves of the tribe were these, and brothers 

gigantic in stature, 
Huge as Goliath of Gath, or the terrible Og, 

king of Bashan ; 
One was Pecksuot named, and the other was 

called Wattawamat. 
Round their necks were suspended their knives 

in scabbards of wampum, 
Two-edged, trenchant knives, with points as 

sharp as a needle. 
Other arms had they none, for they were 

cunning and crafty. 
" Welcome, English ! " they said, — these words 

they had learned from the traders 
Touching at times on the coast, to barter and 

chaffer for peltries. 
Then in their native tongue they began to 

parley with Standish, 
Through his guide and interpreter, Hobomok, 

friend of the white man, 
Begging for blankets and knives, but mostly 

for muskets and powder, 
Kept by the white man, they said, concealed, 

with the plague, in his cellars, 
Ready to be let loose, and destroy his brother 

the red man ! 
But when Standish refused, and said he would 

give them the Bible, 



go 



THE COURTSHIP OF .MILES STANDISH. 



Suddenly changing their tone, they began to 

boast and to bluster. 
Then Wattavvamat advanced with a stride in 

front of the other, 
And, with a lofty demeanour, thus vauntingly 

spake to the Captain : 




" Now Wattawamat can see, by the fiery eyes 

of the Captain, 
Angry is he in his heart ; but the heart of the 

brave Wattawamat 
Is not afraid at the sight. He was not born 

of a woman, 
But on a mountain, at night, from an oaktree 

riven by lightning, 



THE COURTSHIP OK MILES STANDISH. 91 

Forth he sprang- at a bound, with all his wea- 
pons about him, 

Shouting, ' Who is there here to fight with the 
brave Wattawamat ? ' " 

Then he unsheathed his knife, and, whetting 
the blade on his left hand, 

Held it aloft and displayed a woman's face on 
the handle, 

Saying, with bitter expression and look of sin- 
ister meaning : 

" I have another at home, with the face of a 
man on the handle ; 

By and by they shall marry ; and there will be 
plenty of children ! '•' 

Then stood Pecksuot forth, self-vaunting, 

insulting Miles Standish : 
While with his fingers he patted the knife that 

hung at his bosom, 
Drawing it half from its sheath, and plunging 

it back, as he muttered, 
44 By and by it shall see ; it shall eat ; ah, ha ! 

but shall speak not ! 
This is the mighty Captain the white men have 

sent to destroy us ! 
He is a little man ; let him go and work with 

the women ! " 

Meanwhile Standish had noted the faces and 
figures of Indians 
Peeping and creeping about from bush to tree 
in the forest. 



■Q2 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Feigning to look for game, with arrows set on 

their bow-strings, 
Drawing about him still closer and closer the 

net of their ambush. 
But undaunted he stood, and dissembled and 

treated them smoothly; 
So the old chronicles say, that were writ in the 

days of the fathers. 
But when he heard their defiance, the boast, 

the taunt, and the insult, 
All the hot blood of his race, of Sir Hugh and 

of Thurston de Standish, 
Boiled and beat in his heart, and swelled in 

the veins of his temples. 
Headlong he leaped on the boaster, and, snatch- 
ing his knife from its scabbard, 
Plunged it into his heart, and, reeling back- 
ward, the savage 
Fell with his face to the sky, and a fiendlike 

fierceness upon it. 
Straight there arose from the forest the awful 

sound of the warwhoop, 
And, like a flurry of snow on the whistling 

wind of December, 
Swift and sudden and keen came a flight of 

feathery arrows. 
Then came a cloud of smoke, and out of the 

cloud came the lightning, 
•Out of the lightning thunder ; and death unseen 

ran before it. 
Frightened the savages fled for shelter in 

swamp and in thicket, 




HE FELL WITH BOTH HANDS CLITCHIXG THE GKEENSWAKU. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STAN'DISH. 95 

Hotly pursued and beset ; but their sachem, 

the brave Wattawamat, 
Fled not ; he was dead. Unswerving and swift 

had a bullet 
Passed through his brain, and he fell with both 

hands clutching the greensward, 
Seeming in death to hold back from his foe 

the land of his fathers. 

There on the flowers of the meadow the 
warriors lay, and above them, 

Silent, with folded arms, stood Hobomok, friend 
of the white man. 

Smiling at length he exclaimed to the stalwart 
Captain of Plymouth : 

" Pecksuot bragged very loud of his courage, 
his strength and his stature, — 

Mocked the great Captain, and called him a 
little man ; but I see now 

Big enough have you been to lay him speech- 
less before you ! ,1 

Thus the first battle was fought and won by 

the stalwart Miles Standish. 
When the tidings thereof were brought to the 

village of Plymouth, 
And as a trophy of war the head of the brave 

Wattawamat 
Scowled from the roof of the fort, which at 

once was a church and a fortress. 
All who beheld it rejoiced, and praised the 

Lord, and took courage. 



06 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Only Priscilla averted her face from this spec- 
tre of terror. 

Thanking God in her heart that she had not 
married Miles Standish; 

Shrinking, fearing almost, lest, coming home 
from his battles, 

He should lay claim to her hand, as the prize 
and reward of his valour. 



* A 




THE HEAD OF THE BRAVE WATTAWA M AT. 



VIII. 

The Spinning-Wheel. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANUISH. 



VIII. 

THE SPINNING-WHEEL. 

Month after month passed away, and in At 
tumn the ships of the merchants 

Came with kindred and friends, with cattle 
and corn for the Pilgrims. 

All in the village was peace ; the men were in- 
tent on their labours, 

Busy with hewing and building, with garden- 
plot and with merestead, 

Busy with breaking the glebe, and mowing the 
grass in the meadows, 

Searching the sea for its fish, and hunting the 
deer in the forest. 

All in the village was peace ; but at times the 
rumour of warfare 

Filled the air with alarm, and the apprehension 
of danger. 

Bravely the stalwart Miles Stand ish was scour- 
ing the land with his forces, 

Waxing valiant in fight and defeating the alien 
armies, 

Till his name had become a sound of fear to 
the nations. 

Anger was still in his heart, but at times the 
remorse and contrition, 



T02 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Which in all noble natures succeed the passion- 
ate outbreak, 

Came like a rising tide, that encounters the 
rush of a river, 

Staying its current awhile, but making it bitter 
and brackish. 



Meanwhile Alden at home had built him a 

new habitation, 
Solid, substantial, of timber rough-hewn from 

the firs of the forest. 
Wooden-barred was the door, and the roof was 

covered with rushes ; 
Latticed the windows were, and the window- 
panes were of paper, 
Oiled to admit ]the light, while wind and rain 

were excluded. 
There too he dug a well, and around it planted 

an orchard : 
Still may be seen to this day some trace of the 

well and the orchard. 
Close to the house was the stall, where, safe 

and secure from annoyance, 
Raghorn, the snow-white steer, that had fallen 

to Alden's allotment 
In the division of cattle, might ruminate in the 

night-time 
Over the pastures he cropped, made fragrant 

by sweet pennyroyal. 
Oft when his labour was finished, with eager 

feet would the dreamer 



4 




' THE SPINNING-WHEEI 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 105 

Follow the pathway that ran through the 

woods to the house of Priscilla, 
Led by illusions romantic and subtle decep- 
tions of fancy, 
Pleasure disguised as duty, and love in the 

semblance of friendship. 
Ever of her he thought, when he fashioned the 

walls of his dwelling ; 
Ever of her he thought, when he delved in the 

soil of his garden ; 
Ever of her he thought, when he read in his 

Bible on Sunday 
Praise of the virtuous woman, as she is de- 
scribed in the Proverbs,— 
How the heart of her husband doth safely trust 

in her always, 
How all the days of her life she will do him 

good, and not evil, 
How she seeketh the wool and the flax and 

worketh with gladness, 
How she layeth her hand to the spindle and 

holdeth the distaff, 
How she is not afraid of the snow for herself or 

her household, 
Knowing her household are clothed with the 

scarlet cloth of her weaving ! 

So as she sat at her wheel one afternoon in 

the Autumn, 
Alden, who opposite sat, and was watching 

her dextrous fingers, 
As if the thread she were spinning were that 

of his life and his fortune, 



Io6 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

After a pause in their talk, thus spake to the 

sound of the spindle. 
"Truly, Priscilla,'" he said, "when I see you 

spinning and spinning, 
Never idle a moment, but thrifty and thought- 
ful of others, 
Suddenly you are transformed, are visibly 

changed in a moment ; 
You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha the 

Beautiful Spinner.'" 
Here the light foot on the treadle grew swifter 

and swifter; the spindle 
Uttered an angry snarl, and the thread snapped 

short in her fingers ; 
While the impetuous speaker, not heeding the 

mischief, continued : 
"You are the beautiful Bertha, the spinner, 

the queen of Helvetia ; 
She whose story I read at a stall in the streets 

of Southampton, 
Who, as she rode on her palfrey, o 1 er valley 

and meadow and mountain, 
Ever was spinning her thread from a distaff 

fixed to her saddle. 
She was so thrifty and good, that her name 

passed into a proverb. 
So shall it be with your own, when the spin- 
ning-wheel shall no longer 
Hum in the house of the farmer, and fill its 

chambers with music. 
Then shall the mothers, reproving, relate how 

it was in their childhood, 




" HOLD THIS SKEIN ON YOUR HANDS." 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 109 

Praising- the good old times, and the days of 
Priscilla the spinner !" 

Straight uprose from her wheel the beautiful 
Puritan maiden, 

Pleased with the praise of her thrift from him 
whose praise was the sweetest, 

Drew from the reel on the table a snowy skein 
of her spinning, 

Thus making answer, meanwhile, to the flatter- 
ing phrases of Alden : 

41 Come, you must not be idle; if I am a 
pattern for housewives. 

Show yourself equally worthy of being the 
model of husbands. 

Hold this skein on your hands, while I wind it, 
ready for knitting ; 

Then who knows but hereafter, when fashions 
have changed and the manners, 

Fathers may talk to their sons of the good old 
times of John Alden ! " 

Thus, with a jest and a laugh, the skein on his 
hands she adjusted, 

He sitting awkwardly there, with his arms ex- 
tended before him, 

She standing graceful, erect, and winding the 
thread from his fingers, 

Sometimes chiding a little his clumsy manner 
of holding, 

Sometimes touching his hands, as she disen- 
tangled expertly 

Twist or knot in the yarn, unawares — for how 
coutld she help it ? — 



IIO THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Sending electrical thrills through every nerve 
in his body. 



Lo ! in the midst of this scene, a breathless 
messenger entered. 

Bringing in hurry and heat the terrible news 
from the village. 

Yes ; Miles Standish was dead '.—an Indian 
had brought them the tidings, — 

Slain by a poisoned arrow, shot down in the 
front of the battle. 

Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with the 
whole of his forces ; 

All the town would be burned, and all the peo- 
ple be murdered ! 

Such were the tidings of evil that burst on the 
hearts of the hearers. 

Silent and statue-like stood Priscilla, her face 
looking backward 

Still at the face of the speaker, her arms up- 
lifted in horror ; 

But John Alden, upstarting, as if the barb of 
the arrow 

Piercing the heart of his friend had struck his 
own, and had sundered 

Once and for ever the bonds that held him 
bound as a captive, 

While with excess of sensation, the awful de- 
light of his freedom, 

Mingled with pain and regret, unconscious of 
what he was doing, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. Ill 

Clasped, almost with a groan, the motionless 

form of Priscilla, 
Pressing her close to his heart, as for ever his 

own, and exclaiming : 
" Those whom the Lord hath united, let no 

man put them asunder ! " 

Even as rivulets twain, from distant and 

separate sources, 
Seeing each other afar, as they leap from the 

rocks, and pursuing 
Each one its devious path, but drawing nearer 

and nearer, 
Rush together at last, at their trysting-place in 

the forest ; 
So these lives that had run thus far in separate 

channels, 
Coming in sight of each other, then swerving 

and flowing asunder, 
Parted by barriers strong, but drawing nearer 

and nearer, 
Rushed together at last, and one was lost in 

the other. 



IX. 

The Wedding-Day. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. II5 



IX. 
THE WEDDING-DAY. 

Forth from the curtain of clouds, from the 

tent of purple and scarlet, 
Issued the sun, the great High-Priest, in his 

garments resplendent, 
Holiness unto the Lord, in letters of light, on 

his forehead, 
Round the hem oi his robe the golden bells 

and pomegranates. 
Blessing the world he came, and the bars of 

vapour beneath him 
Gleamed like a grate of brass, and the sea at 

his feet was a laver ! 

This was the wedding morn of Priscilla the 

Puritan maiden. 
Friends were assembled together ; the Elder 

and Magistrate also 
Graced the scene with their presence, and 

stood like the Law and the Gospel, 
One with the sanction of earth and one with 

the blessing of heaven. 
Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of 

Ruth and of Boaz. 



Il6 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the 
words of betrothal, 

Taking- each other for husband and wife in the 
Magistrate's presence, 

After the Puritan way, and the laudable cus- 
tom of Holland. 

Fervently then, and devoutly, the excellent 
Elder of Plymouth, 

Prayed for the hearth and the home, that were 
founded that day in affection, 

Speaking of life and of death, and imploring 
divine benedictions. 

Lo ! when the service was ended, a form ap- 
peared on the threshold, 

Clad in armour of steel, a sombre and sorrowful 
figure ! 

Why does the bridegroom start and stare at the 
strange apparition ? 

Why does the bride turn pale, and hide her 
face on his shoulder? 

Is it a phantom of air, — a bodiless, spectral illu- 
sion ? 

Is it a ghost from the grave, that has come to 
forbid the betrothal ? 

Long had it stood there unseen, a guest unin- 
vited, unwelcomed ; 

Over its clouded eyes there had passed at times 
an expression 

Softening the gloom and revealing the warm 
heart hidden beneath them. 




A FORM A1TEAKED ON THE THRESHOLD. 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 119 

As when across the sky the driving rack of the 

rain-cloud 
Grows for a moment thin, and betrays the sun 

by its brightness. 
Once it had lifted its hand, and moved its lips, 

but was silent, 
As if an iron will had mastered the fleeting in- 
tention. 
But when were ended the troth and the prayer 

and the last benediction, 
Into the room it strode, and the people beheld 

with amazement 
Bodily there in his armour Miles Standish. the 

Captain of Plymouth ! 
Grasping the bridegroom's hand, he said with 

emotion, " Forgive me ! 
I have been angry and hurt, — too long have I 

cherished the feeling ; 
I have been cruel and hard, but now, thank 

God ! it is ended. 
Mine is the same hot blood that leaped in the 

veins of Hugh Standish, 
Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift in aton- 
ing for error. 
Never so much as now was Miles Standish the 

friend of John Alden." 
Thereupon answered the bridegroom : " Let all 

be forgotten between us, — 
All save the dear, old friendship, and that shall 

grow older and dearer ! " 
Then the Captain advanced, and, bowing, 

saluted Priscilla, 



120 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Gravely and after the manner of old-fashioned 

gentry in England, 
Something of camp and of court, of town and 

of country, commingled, 
Wishing her joy of her wedding, and loudly 

lauding her husband. 




Then he said with a smile : " I should have re- 
membered the adage, — 

If you would be well served, you must serve 
yourself ; and moreover, 

No man can gather cherries in Kent at the sea- 
son of Christmas ! " 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 121 

Great was the people's amazement, and 

greater yet their rejoicing, 
Thus to behold once more the sun-burnt face 

of their Captain, 
Whom they had mourned as dead ; and they 

gathered and crowded about him, 
Eager to see him and hear him, forgetful of 

bride and of bridegroom, 
Questioning, answering, laughing, and each 

interrupting the other, 
Till the good Captain declared, being quite 

overpowered and bewildered, 
He had rather by far break into an Indian en- 
campment, 
Than come again to a wedding to which he 

had not been invited. 
Meanwhile the bridegroom went forth and 

stood with the bride at the doorway, 
Breathing the perfumed air of that warm and 

beautiful morning. 
Touched with autumnal tints, but lonely and 

sad in the sunshine, 
Lay extended before them the land of toil and 

privation ; 
There were the graves of the dead, and the 

barren waste of the sea-shore, 
There the familiar fields, the groves of pine, 

and the meadows ; 
But to their eyes transfigured, it seemed as the 

Garden of Eden, 
Filled with the presence of God, whose voice 

was the sound of the ocean. 



122 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Soon was their vision disturbed by the noise 
and stir of departure, 
Friends coming- forth from the house, and im- 
patient of longer delaying, 




Each with his plan for the day, and the work 
that was left uncompleted. 

Then from a stall near at hand, amid exclama- 
tions of wonder, 

Alden the thoughtful, the careful, so happy, 
so proud of Priscilla, 



THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 123 

Brought out his snow-white steer, obeying 

the hand of its master, 
Led by a cord that was tied to an iron ring in 

its nostrils, 
Covered with crimson cloth, and a cushion 

placed for a saddle. 
She should not walk, he said, through the dust 

and heat of the noonday; 
Nay, she should ride like a queen, not plod 

along like a peasant. 
Somewhat alarmed at first, but reassured by 

the others, 
Placing her hand on the cushion, her foot in 

the hand of her husband, 
Gayly, with joyous laugh, Priscilla mounted 

her palfrey. 
" Nothing is wanting now," he said with a 

smile, "but the distaff; 
Then you would be in truth my queen, my 

beautiful Bertha ! " 



Onward the bridal procession now moved to 
their new habitation, 

Happy husband and wife, and friends con- 
versing together. 

Pleasantly murmured the brook, as they crossed 
the ford in the forest, 

Pleased with the image that passed, like a 
dream of love through its bosom, 

Tremulous, floating in air, o'er the depths of 
the azure abysses. 



124 THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH. 

Down through the golden leaves the sun was 
pouring his splendours, 

Gleaming on purple grapes, that, from branches 
above them suspended, 

Mingled their odorous breath with the balm 
of the pine and the fir-tree 

Wild and sweet as the clusters that grew in 
the valley of Eshcol. 

Like a picture it seemed of the primitive, 
pastoral ages, 

Fresh with the youth of the world, and recall- 
ing Rebecca and Isaac, 

Old and yet ever new, and simple and beauti- 
ful always, 

Love immortal and young in the endless suc- 
cession of lovers. 

So through the Plymouth woods passed on- 
ward the bridal procession. 



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